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Cat adventues amid the Office Bird's erstwhile ambienceHi all,
Just thought you might enjoy the tale... Had a wacky adventure last night... I always keep the door from the Office to the Shop "closed"...the door has a large expanded-metal see-through 'window' on the top third area. I do let a young feral Cat have his prowls in the Shop, for him to catch Mice out there, and he is a wonderful young Cat, Greyish, and vertical black stripes all along his length and tail...very pretty. He accepts me as if I were another 'friendly' Cat it seems, and will let me poke my nose into the immediate place he is sniffing, let me be literally inches from him, but he does not like being petted. He will stalk a Bug right next to my feet, is very comfortable with me in every way, very calm, just acts lie I am not 'there', but for he does not like to be touched, or he will move away to be JUST out of reach if I try petting him, so...okay, he is welcome here, I like him, but ONLY in the Shop...Lol... So, last night, I am on the Lathe, and I decide to go into the Office, and I see the door is a little ajar about a Cat's width, and the Big door has been down for hours, BUT, a Cat might have been in the Shop when I closed the Big Door, so I feel some worry, seeing this... I go into the Office, and the various Birds are all looking a mite too vivid and alert...I look for the several 'floor Birds' who can not fly, and find one, then another, and they seem 'worried' to me... Then, I glimpse the Cat...! Eeeesh! I find 'Big Girl' who CAN fly, but she is on the floor, she comes trotting out from somewhere and stands there looking up at me, so I scoop her up and get her in a Cage fast, I scoop up someone else and put them 'up'...Cat is sveltly moveing here or there behind cluttered things, and I say, "Cat Buddy! You KNOW - or realize by now! that "this" area if NOT part of the Hospitality here for you to visit!" - "You gotta leave this area NOW!"... And, I open the Office Door and after a long moment or two, he streaks through it like lightening... Whew! Birds were all fine, Cat was fine, everything fine... I go outside, Cat is shyly off to the side about to hide, I say in a quieter voice, "Cat buddy! I am not mad at you...everything is okay. You are fine with me, we just can not have you in that area you know, since that is a "safe" place for the Birds..." and he sort of stands there, seems at ease, seems his old self...decides to do some grooming stuff... Now, there were like four Pigeons on the floor in various areas of the Office or front room, and lord knows the Cat could easily have gotten any of them pretty easily...so, I dunno...maybe the Cat was somehow respecting the Bird's situation and was only after Mice or Bugs? or, maybe the Birds were just majorly lucky...??? I have 'Lectured' Him several times about how he must NOT bother the Shop Birds ( who are all good fliers, ferals, ex-ferals, who live in the Shop and fly by day all they like) and it 'seems' that he has left them alone for more than a month now or six-weeks, after initially trying to climb up and get to them ( no way to get to them though...) so...maybe young Cat does get it, elects to respect it, and actually did leave the floor Birds and other Birds be... Anyway...sure sped my Heart up! Phil Las Vegas |
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Whew, Phil, you sure know how to tell a great story.
 Sure glad to hear that Shop Cat (my dad has a "Shop Cat" too  ) minded his manners and left the birds alone. It's very strange, some cats just seem to understand their boundaries; that it's okay to hunt the mice but not the Shop Owner's birds lol. My cats were raised from tiny kittens around birds, rats, and other huntables, and even years later (now that we don't have pijies in the house anymore), they still get uneasy around a pigeon or the smaller birds. They WANT to look at the bird, but that tiny bit of cat-guilt comes up and they sidle past it with nervous glances. Now, out in the yard, they see those birds as okay prey (not that they have a chance in heck of catching anything, the fat cats!) Maybe your Cat has some sort of understanding that you are the Nice Guy who let's him stay around and he should leave the Nice Guy's stuff (including birds) alone! Never a dull day around the office!
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A rescuer's work is never done  "You can judge a society by the way it treats its animals" -Gandhi Talk to me, Coo to me, Bow to me, Listen to me. And I'll teach you To fly with me And I will love you Like no other.... http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333 21 Amazing Facts You Might Not Know About Pigeons! |
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Whew! Some cats do seem to know where the boundaries are, but that must have scared you when you realized he'd gone into the bird area. That's a good cat you have there--he does his job and minds his own business.
 Years ago, when I was a teenager, I kept a pair of zebra finches in my room. We also had cats. There was one in particular, a stray that had shown up the previous summer and adopted me (though I'm not much of a cat person). I loved this particular cat, a black and white I named D'Artagnan. He was feisty and used to chase my mom's Saluki dog around the yard, but he was very gentle with people and other cats. Anyway, I always kept my bedroom door closed, but one day the door was somehow left open. I walked in my room and there was D'Artagnan, sprawled comfortably on my bed, the finch cage untouched. It was one of those old-style cages where the top just sits in the base, so he could easily have knocked it over and frightened, if not caught, the birds. But he acted like they weren't even there. |
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Oh! I am so sorry, I could have sworn I posted this under 'General Discussions' and NOT under 'Sick and Injured'...
Oooops! I will PM a 'mod' and see if they would move it to where it belongs... (Blush) Phil Las Vegas |
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Phil, you have the best adventures. Maybe the cat didn't know what to do with so many around him. Was Buttercup frightened?
About 30 years ago, our first rehab was a beautiful Evening Grosbeak named Starsky. His wing was so badly damaged he could never fly so we kept him for several years before he passed away. Back then you had to get written permission from the US Dept. of Interior to keep wild, migrating birds. We also had a miniature pinscher, Missy, who weighed about 9 lbs. We kept them both in the kitchen while we were at work but Starsky was in a cage on top of the freezer (chest type). Well, that rascal learned how to pick his lock and we came home one day and found the cage opened. I fully expected to find Starsky dead but Missy was in her favorite chair and Starsky was strolling around on the floor. Don't know how long they stayed together but maybe each pet knows to leave the other alone.
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Maggie |
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Your kitty sounds like a Mackeral Tabby. Does he have, what looks like, an M on his forehead? Most Tabbies have that. He sounds like a sweetie. Are you sure he is a MALE? If so, he needs to be neutered, if you don't want cat urine sprayed around! Believe me, some males are REALLY RANK!! My cats will not bother Mr. Squeaks (except for Gypsy, who only wants to "play!"), but DO look interested in the birds who come to feed on my balcony. I KNOW his "attitude" has a lot to do with it! Those beak strikes HURT too! However, in YOUR case, I'm not surprised, Dr. Doolittle...you DO talk to the animals and they DO listen (well, most of the time  )Last edited by mr squeaks; 5th January 2007 at 04:13 PM. |
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Hi mr squeaks, Lady Tarheel, all...
Huh, well, really, I can not say if this Cat is a 'he' or a 'she' and I have tried looking but it is hard to see anything to say by..! Lol... I will try and put a small mirror on my Boot toe tip and maybe get-a-peak that way... (S)he will not let me pick him/her up, anyway...even though completely at ease otherwise with being near. Someone, ('him') I thought, did pee on my Leather Jacket the other day, I had it folded neatly in my old Step Van, on the floor, and I went into the Van to go somewhere and smelled that definite Cat spray smell, and saw the little puddle on my Jacket, so I wiped it off with a kleenex and then blotted with some WD-40, thinking that might help...and have started keeping the Van's doors "closed" now...Lol... Uhhhh, 'Butter Cup' was just perched on the Lap Top Computer Screen top, on my Desk, which 'roost' either her or the Doves tend to be on...but she did look 'concerned' anyway...not freightened or upset, she never 'squawked' or whistled or anything or sounded any alarm-vocalizations that I knew of, but she knew something was up which was maybe yet undecided in her feelings about it... Maybe I can get a picture of young Cat buddy, and you can see the coloring/stripes...I will chec their forehead too for a "W" there... Best wishes! Phil Las Vegas |
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Too funny! I'm so glad the incident ended without harm to any of the residents!
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Terri B |
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That's an M, Phil...an upside down "W"...
UH OH, sounds like a male to me! If he doesn't belong to anyone, I'm sure he's not neutered! Be prepared for more spraying. If you see him standing in front of something with his tail up and quivering...check for urine spray! You may want to check at Petco (PetsMart?) for a product called Nature's Miracle -- Just For Cats - Stain & Ordor Remover. This product permanently eliminates all stains and odors w/no perfume cover-up. Comes in a white container with red lettering. I use it when my cats have hairballs and for stains from Squeak's poops - when there are some. Stuff works GREAT. I have a spray bottle and a BIG refill bottle! Oh yes, sometimes to get the cat to get away from something a squirt bottle or high powered squirt gun works QUITE WELL!! |
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Lol...
Anyway, I did not see him/her ( 'him' probably, huh,) last night or today yet, but then I was out most of the day...it was Windy and cold yesterday, below freezing overnight...so...he might have been laying low somewhere to be out of the winds. Okay, so it is an "M" if you are facing 'him'? but a "W" if you are standing over him looking down at his head? Anyway, I will find out soon as I can... Phil Las Vegas |
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ROFL! NOPE, STILL an M! HOWEVER, IF you were BEHIND his TAIL and could see the front of his head, YES, a W...('cause, it would be UPSIDE DOWN) |
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Phil,
I'm glad you and the cat have an understanding, and he knows his bounderies, the M cat (on the forehead)....that is.
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 Every negative event effects my ability to own my APBT, please be a responsible owner and keep your pitbull out of trouble. |
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